Thorough and careful testing of individual communications network components before they are installed in the telephone network is critical to maintaining the integrity of the network, especially when a new type of equipment is being installed for the first time. However, it is increasingly difficult to thoroughly test a single component of the network because, as networks become more complex, there is more interaction among the components of the communication network which has an effect on the component to be tested. As a result, it is very difficult to isolate one component from the rest of the network for testing of that component's functionality.
For example, thorough testing of a wireless mobile switching center ("MSC") requires testing of the interface between the MSC and the base station systems ("BSS"). The interaction of the MSC and BSS, in turn, is heavily influenced by the number and activity of mobile stations (MS) in contact with BSS. Preferably, a plurality of BSSs and MSs are needed for testing the full functionality of the MSC, because MSCs in the field work with several BSSs and many MSs, and MSC operations such as consol of handoffs of an MS from one BSS to another need to be tested. Using real BSSs and MSs in a laboratory is expensive, and, in the laboratory environment, it is difficult if not impossible to simulate many error conditions for testing the effectiveness of error handling capability of the system. Therefore, other methods are used to test MSCs.
Prior art testing systems provide either a system for testing messages between the MSC and other components (that is, testing the message interaction of the component under test with one other component) or a system for simulating a limited number of end-users of the component under test. In the message-based system, the tester must know every message that the component under test and the other components exchange, and then must be able to isolate one message for the purposes of examining, changing or deleting it. In the simulated end-user case, the tester must be able to emulate precisely every one of the component's operational conditions and potential error conditions in order to thoroughly test the component's full functionality.
Therefore, a problem in the art is that them is no system for testing network components that provides a system for isolating network components without the tester having to have detailed knowledge of all the interfaces, message exchanges, and error conditions.